Bargain Hunt

ARGYLE manager Derek Adams is realistic in his expectations for the upcoming January transfer window.

Any transfer kitty would need to be generated from players leaving Home Park, as opposed to Derek being given more money to spend, but the gaffer has a fine track record of shrewdness in the market.

“We will have players that will go out and there will be players that come in,” said Derek. “I always have to balance the books and, by doing that, players will move out, we will recoup some of the money and we move on to other targets.

“It’s difficult because we have a lot of things that we have to pay for at the football club. The stadium needs to be redeveloped. We have got to understand there is not a bottomless pit at the football club.

“We have got targets and we are obviously speaking to clubs about them. I try to do the best I can [with the budget]. It’s not my job to go and ask for more money; it’s just not me. If more resources are found for me, then I’ll accept it, but I don’t go grovelling to anybody for anything – I work with what I’ve got and do the best I can.”

Despite the club being without a chief scout following the departure of Greg Strong, the manager says his transfer plans are well under way.

“It is a priority – we are speaking to individuals about the role of chief scout; we will make a decision in the future,” said Derek. “That is an ongoing process, it is something we would like to try and do but it’s not something that we are required to do.

“There are two ways we can do it: we can do it on a short-term basis to start with or we can look to the summer period where you get somebody for a longer period of time. It might be that we do that.”

Even though Derek may not be at the same level of buying and selling in football as some of the big names, he knows one of the best in the business in Harry Redknapp, but will not be able to garner his advice as he is currently starring on “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!”

“Harry is in in the jungle at this moment in time but he is one of the best at wheeling and dealing and we will have to do that,” said Derek.

“From our point of view, we want to get players out to get players in, that’s what we’ve got to do. We have done that over the years. We did that last January and it worked well for us. We did it the January before, when we got promotion. We look to try and strengthen the squad.”

Despite the fact Chairman Simon Hallett will primarily be based in the United States, Derek has no issues whatsoever and is enjoying his company while he visits Plymouth. He knows he has a strong support network here, should he need it.

Derek said: “We can speak at any point through email etc, so there’s no problem.

“We were in his company at the staff Christmas night out; from that point of view it’s good to have him here. We have got a lot of people at the football club we can rely on.”